Catching Fireflies

Eleven

C

I was awake, but also not. I was somewhat aware of my surroundings but i was quite sure, but I didn't bother trying to open up my eyes since I was rather comfortable in whatever position I was. There was something large and warm laying up against me, and I snuggled into it as I craved for more of its warmth as the mornings tended to get chilly. I searched with my hand for a blanket. I found one and pulled it upwards around me.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around me and pulled me in closer and heaved a sigh.

Then everything rushed back into mind as I peaked my eyes opened and looked up at that beast cuddling with me. Seeing Ashley's sheepish face above me, sound asleep was something that I had never thought I would ever experience. I couldn't help but lay there and stare as he snored softly into his pillow. His arms relaxed around me and he bent his head down to rest his chin on the top of my skull. I smiled.

His arm started to move and his hand messaged circles around my back.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Ashley's voice was husky.

"Good morning." I said then proceeded to yawn. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath.

"You're not going back to sleep are you? I just woke up," Ashley pouted as he shook my shoulders to make me open my eyes again.

"Alright, I'm up!" I exclaimed and Ashley laughed as he stopped shaking my shoulders violently. He rewrapped his arms around me and pulled me back into him and we laid there like that for a bit. At some point we both pushed back for a moment, and stared each other in the eyes.

I don't think either one of us knew as to why we decided to have a staring contest where there was no winner or loser. We didn't pay attention to the fact that the other might have blinked, but we laid there side by side without ever dragging our eyes away from the locked gaze we shared.

Without realizing it, we both had scooted in closer. Our noses were a hair width away from touching, and his breathe tickled my skin.

"Your breath stinks." I said.

"Shut up." He said.

We both laughed, but then once again, we locked eyes.

We might've kissed, if given the extra time, But the constant buzz that came from my phone finally drew our attention away as I rolled over to check to see who was calling me. But it was no phone calls.

It was several spammed texts messages from Maria. I paid no attention to them at first, until there was a knock at the front door.

"Shit!" I whispered harshly and Ashley sat up from his spot on the mattress.

"Who's that?"

"Maria. You have to go. Now." I said as I turned to him. Ashley only looked at me in confusion.

"Why? Maria knows me." I mentaly face palmed.

"Yeah that's the problem!" The knocks became more and more frequent as I tried to push Ashley out of the fort and out of the back door. But of course Ashley being the stubborn boy he was. He wouldn't budge.

"Why is that a problem?" I tried harder to push Ashley out, and even resorted using my whole body in pushing out. But he wouldn't move without any answers.

"It's a long story that I don't have time to share right now. If Maria sees you not only will she kill me, but she will kill you first." I whispered harshly. I thought I had finally gotten Ashley to move but then the front door opened.

"I'm screwed." I murmured. I told Ashley in a quick quiet whisper to find some way to hide and to stay quiet. And if he didn't, I would make sure to kill him before Maria got the chance to.

"Cris?" Maria called for me and I crawled out of the fort as casually as I could.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I stood up on my feet and in front of the fort entrance to cover Ashley if he was in view. I prayed to God that he would be smart about this.

"Did you get my texts? And who were you talking to?" Maria tilted her head and tried to peek through the fort opening but I leaned my weight onto my other leg and blocked her view.

"I just woke up actually. You probably heard my angry complaints of being woken up." I said and began rocking on the heels of my feet. Maria raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah ok." Maria glanced over the fort once more. "Anyway, I was told this morning that you were left home alone, so I thought I'd stop by before I go home."

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"Your mom told my mom, of course." Maria shrugged. "Just here to check up on you. With there being a crude next door." I cringed as she said that.

I hoped Ashley didn't hear her.

"I'm going to borrow your bathroom now." Maria walked down the hallway and into the bathroom. I made sure to listen to the door lock before I dove back inside of the fort.

"Ashley?" I whispered. I didn't see him but eventually found him hiding on the side of the mattress with blankets covering his body.

"Still here. I'm uncomfortable though. Can we go back to cuddling?" Ashley flashed a cheeky grin and I snickered as I covered him back up with the blankets.

"Just a little bit longer," I said before I crawled out of the fort again and waited for Maria to come out of the bathroom. When she did, she surveyed the room one more time before she hugged me goodbye and left through the front door. I waited till her car had backed out of the driveway.

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"All clear." I said, and I heard Ashley shuffling through the fort and then saw his head poke out of the opening and then the rest of his body. He stands up fully and stretches out his arms and legs.

"Remind me to just leave next time." Ashley said more so to himself, but then he frowned. "What did she mean by 'crude'?" I couldn't look him in the eye then, nor could I explain the long story I had mentioned earlier.

I guess a part of me still wasn't ready to face the truth and the facts. Some might just tell me to just tell him, or ask him his side of the story to get it over with, but I'm so scared that my worst thoughts would become real and I would break again. I was scared that I would watch his sweet eyes turn stone cold as he would laugh at me in humiliation.

I shivered at the thought of it.

I couldn't tell him that all of this wasn't exactly my decision, nor is it anything I could change.

My friends are only trying to protect me.

But sometimes I felt trapped.

"I think I should go," Ashley said and he scratched the back of his head. "You can keep the light projector."

I didn't say anything. I just wrapped my arms around my body as I watched him go out the back door. I watched him disappear as he walked down the steps of the porch.

I crawled back into the fort and snuggled with the still warm blankets Ashley and I used last night and just then. They smelt like him.

I closed my eyes, but I still couldn't sleep.